The S-300 missile system entered service with the Soviet armed forces in 1978 and has been used by dozens of powers. Reuters
The S-300 missile system entered service with the Soviet armed forces in 1978 and has been used by dozens of powers. Reuters
The S-300 missile system entered service with the Soviet armed forces in 1978 and has been used by dozens of powers. Reuters
The S-300 missile system entered service with the Soviet armed forces in 1978 and has been used by dozens of powers. Reuters

MENA

Russia ships S-300 air defence missiles out of Syria - satellite images

Separate images showed the battery components on a dock at Tartus between August 12 and 17

Reuters

August 30, 2022

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Russia has shipped a battery of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles from Syria to a Russian port near Crimea, according to an Israeli satellite imaging company, in what may be an effort to strengthen its air defences in its conflict with Ukraine.

ImageSat International (ISI) captured pictures showing the presence of the S-300 anti-aircraft battery at Masyaf, Syria in April, and the empty site on August 25 after the hardware was shipped to the port of Tartus, Reuters reported.

Images showed the battery components on a dock at Tartus between August 12 and 17, ISI said.

By August 20 they went gone, and ISI concluded they had been transferred to a Russian vessel, Sparta II, which left Tartus for the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

Marine traffic data from Refinitiv Eikon showed the Sparta II in Novorossiysk, having arrived by the Dardanelles Strait.

The Russian Defence Ministry declined to comment.

Russia has maintained a military presence in Syria since 2015, when it intervened in the civil war there on the side of President Bashar Al Assad.

If confirmed, the transfer would indicate a Russian move to bolster air defences near the theatre of war in Ukraine, where its forces have sustained damaging attacks in recent weeks.

In one such incident, eight Russian combat planes were destroyed this month in a series of explosions at an airbase in Crimea.

Ukraine has declined to say if — or how — it carried out the attacks.

ISI images showed the radar component of the S-300 battery had been moved separately from the same Masyaf base to the Khmeimim airbase on the Syrian coast, north of Tartus.

The company's analysts said they assessed that the size and weight of the radar made it unsuitable for shipment by sea, and may require an airlift from Khmeimim to Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres shake hands after their meeting in Lviv, Ukraine. AP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres shake hands after their meeting in Lviv, Ukraine. AP
Russian missiles headed for Ukraine are launched from Russia's Belgorod region. AP
Russian missiles headed for Ukraine are launched from Russia's Belgorod region. AP
Street artists paint a mural on to a wall near a building in a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine. EPA
Street artists paint a mural on to a wall near a building in a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine. EPA
Firefighters put out flames and search through the rubble of the Culture Palace, which was destroyed by a Russian missile, in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. Getty
Firefighters put out flames and search through the rubble of the Culture Palace, which was destroyed by a Russian missile, in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. Getty
Seamstresses sew soft toys at the Kopytsia toy factory in Nizhyn, Ukraine. The factory makes toys that have became patriotic symbols for Ukrainians during Russia's invasion. EPA
Seamstresses sew soft toys at the Kopytsia toy factory in Nizhyn, Ukraine. The factory makes toys that have became patriotic symbols for Ukrainians during Russia's invasion. EPA
The logo of a new cafe called 'Stars Coffee', which opened in Moscow after Starbucks pulled out of Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. Reuters
The logo of a new cafe called 'Stars Coffee', which opened in Moscow after Starbucks pulled out of Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. Reuters
Rescue officials gather in front of the bodies of victims killed in a Russian missile strike on Kharkiv. AFP
Rescue officials gather in front of the bodies of victims killed in a Russian missile strike on Kharkiv. AFP
Women hug near the debris of a building that was destroyed after a rocket hit the Saltivka area in Kharkiv. EPA
Women hug near the debris of a building that was destroyed after a rocket hit the Saltivka area in Kharkiv. EPA
The letter 'Z', a symbol of support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is projected on to a building in Moscow. AFP
The letter 'Z', a symbol of support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is projected on to a building in Moscow. AFP
A woman recovers an item from the damaged home of her elderly neighbour after a Russian missile strike yesterday in Druzhkivka, in Ukraine's Donetsk enclave. AP
A woman recovers an item from the damaged home of her elderly neighbour after a Russian missile strike yesterday in Druzhkivka, in Ukraine's Donetsk enclave. AP
Bronze medalist Andriy Protsenko of Ukraine celebrates after the men's high jump final on day eight of the European Championships in Munich, Germany. Getty
Bronze medalist Andriy Protsenko of Ukraine celebrates after the men's high jump final on day eight of the European Championships in Munich, Germany. Getty
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Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup 

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

Updated: August 30, 2022, 9:00 AM
RussiaUkraineSyria